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Hollister was probably put into a medically induced stasis due to cream cake poisoning which would account for the time skip

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FOR GOD’S SAKE, GIVE ME AN EPIPEN!

In a return to the more “dramatic” style of story from series VII Doug writes an episode where the Cat nearly dies from anaphylactic shock. The mood is lightened by some fart gags at the end.

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FOR GOD’S SAKE, GIVE ME AN EPIC PLURAL!

Lister’s tenure as host of Countdown gets off to a bad start when he begins berating contestants

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I really like Incompetence, it’s probably my favourite “non-Dwarf” thing that Rob has done.

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THAT WARRANTS TWO EPISODES OF WOOF!

After an incident involving <the matter paddle/teleporter/time drive> (delete as appropriate) the crew unexpectedly end up in the company of none other than Captain Flashheart

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Was Lister in that scene, I thought it was just Craig Charles?

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THAT WARRANTS TWO SEASONS OF W.O.O.C

Rob Grant earns the commission for two seasons of new Red Dwarf under the restriction that it must be With Out Original Cast

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I’ve always been a big fan of the sound of Lister’s space mumps exploding off-screen, it’s wonderfully evocative and the audience know exactly what has happened even before the reveal of the Cat

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I think this is the problem, most episodes from that stage of the run where I think “Oh, I don’t really like that one” the reality is they are great and I just can’t remember exactly how great at that point in time. There is a lot to love about it, I always forget its the episode with the lying lessons – female ardvarks and all. The initial meeting with Camille is great also – the WD-40 line, 4000 series GTI etc. (although as a computer scientist I can’t help but cringe when Kryten refers to ‘A S C 2 code’, it’s ASCII with i’s you moron!) and the interactions with their individual pleasure GELF companions, the confusion that causes and so on is all good, something about it just doesn’t kick it into absolute top gear for me I guess.

Like I say it’s a case of something being “slightly less fantastic” rather than “ugh, this is a real Pete Part 2”

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He’s always got his wit, brains and cunning to fall back on I suppose.

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He has to rely on his own resourcefulness? My God, it’s worse than I thought!

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I think Peep Show is the most “recent” candidate for a UK comedy show with a very consistent period, I’d definitely give it my backing.

4 is my least favourite Peep Show series. It moves away from the original format into The Wacky Adventures of Mark and Jez where one always tags along with the other for some really tenuous reason and they do daft stuff like eating a dog. Kind of the antithesis of what I like about the show.

I know a lot of people cite the dog eating moment as something of a jumping the shark step for Peep Show but I’m a big fan of it myself. Webb’s performance sells the situation perfectly.

As for the actual question concerning RD, it’s a tough one. There are some episodes which seem to consistently rank lower than others in polls etc. Meltdown for example has had a “weak” reputation for a while and it is one of those that I sometimes find myself tempted to skip when doing a re-watch, but then I watch it and remember that it is actually fantastic and has some of the shows best bits – who could possibly skip an episode where Winnie the Pooh faces a firing squad!?

Camille and Body Swap are probably the two weakest entries from this period for me. Camille never quite lands for me as I don’t really have any kind of Casablanca nostalgia and it doesn’t have that many “top tier” gags. Body Swap has one of the best opening acts of any episode, the milkshake and a crunchy bar order leading to the near destruction of the ship is just perfection, but the actual body swap stuff falls flatter for me – partly because the VO performances are slightly off which is jarring.

Ultimately it really is a case of nit-picking though, it’s a fabulous period for the show overall.

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Great idea except the first time the player fires a heat seeking bazookoid shot into an empty room their going to be in trouble!

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BUTTSKI SUNDAY

Lister demonstrates that an expert command of the French lavatory squat golf swing isn’t his only sporting skill as the crew take part in a special edition of soapsud slalom

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BONEY BUTTSKIS OUR MOVE LETS

Rob, Paul and Ed have to get a shift on when they’re actually commissioned to produce all of that new RD content they were banging out about

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JMC getting rid of the evidence is the sci-fi answer.

Now I can’t stop thinking about a Red Dwarf / Half-Life mashup.
“Arnold doesn’t need to hear all this, he’s a highly trained technician. We’ve assured Captain Hollister that nothing will go wrong.”

“I never thought I’d see a Cadmium II explosion, let a lone create one!”

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Ed’s Hardest Shots Part II

“We thought we’d have a job on our hands to get Lister’s head to spin independently of his body but as Craig does all his own stunts he just went for it!”

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REVENGE OF THE MUTANT SPLAT GLOOP MONSTER

Tired of carting out a GELF every time they need a “non-alien” antagonists Rob Grant turns to the gloop to serve the same role in his new vision of the show

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He can’t help it, he went to art college!

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Good points. I forget the logic of the theory of parallel realities as Dimension Jump sets it out. I’m too busy thinking about Bongo covered in taramasalata.

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That explains the oil

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It’s possible, I mean there have been billions of them judging by the number of those light bee coffins we see in VII.

Which doesn’t really make sense when you think about it – how have THAT many Ace’s lived and died in the realistic timeframe of things? How have they all managed to train up and pass on the mantle to another Rimmer? None of them just died instantly?

Like many Dwarf things it’s probably not worth sweating over!

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I’ve always been aware of G&T and have visited this place sporadically over the years to read the various musings and listen to the casts but for whatever reason never bothered to sign up and join the discussion in any way until last year.

This is probably because I’m an ace hole.

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I’d forgotten that one, the evidence is stacking up!

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The skutters are obsessed with John Wayne and playing cowboys and Indians. Kryten “dreams” about a fictional Sherrif in a Western town when fighting the Armageddon virus.

Are all mechanoids so fixated on the Wild West or is it something specific to those aboard Red Dwarf?

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Depends on which Lister you’re dealing with, the “what’s an iguana?” moron from series 1, the street smart guy with “brains he’s never used” from series 5, or the guy who was apparently smart enough to rig the whole stasis thing for his own personal advantage as per the books!

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Hattie love is always a good thing. Norm is fantastic and Holly had some great moments during his era but I really feel a bit sad for Hattie. We’ve had numerous “fan service” Holly’s back! moments from series 7 onward and it’s just a shame that she’s not had a chance to take part in any of them.

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THE PROMISED LAND

Goldfish Toes finally makes it to the hall of fame

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Life is just a series of ways to waste time so what’s one more thing added to the list!

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I still don’t really get reaction videos, just seems like a bizarre form of content to me. But I guess enough people must be into it as lots of “content creators” seem to be making a good deal out of putting them up.

I quite like them, as there’s a sense of living vicariously through them or rediscovering enjoyment from things.
There’s a girl on YouTube who’s been watching old Doctor Who, and who avoided any information about the tenth anniversary story before watching (to the point of covering her eyes when the opening titles came up) and it really made me feel warm when she burst into tears of joy upon seeing Patrick Troughton turn up – having no idea he was coming back.

Yeah I guess I do get what you mean about getting something out of watching others experience something for the first time, I’m probably just naturally resistant to “reaction” videos as it’s a new thing and therefore must be wrong!

That Doctor Who story is nice and a great positive example of how this stuff can work well for both the person watching and everyone else participating as well.

I still don’t really get reaction videos, just seems like a bizarre form of content to me. But I guess enough people must be into it as lots of “content creators” seem to be making a good deal out of putting them up.

Philosophically, I agree. In practice, I have just watched watchmojo’s list of top ten Red Dwarf episodes (Krytie TV and Legion are both honourable mentions, Jesus Christ). I think both reaction videos and watchmojo lists prey on the same impulse to hear other people talk about something I love. It’s the same impulse that led me to Ganymede and Titan, probably, although reading an article on G&T is obviously the best choice of something to do at any given time, if we’re not counting the all time number one.
TL;DR?
watchmojo < reaction videos < G&T

I’m not aware of watchmojo but I am a sucker for a list so I’ll have to check that out. If nothing else it will be fresh material to disagree with! :D

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I guess, but how much interaction is there with the people reacting? The joy of introducing a friend or spouse to something you love is that you then have someone new to talk to about it!

Getting a new/younger audiences take on things like the changing nature of the show over time would be interesting now I think about it. Binging on something in a shorter space of time that actually had as many hiatuses and behind the scenes changes going on as RD did gives a unique perspective on those changes which us established fans could never replicate.

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I still don’t really get reaction videos, just seems like a bizarre form of content to me. But I guess enough people must be into it as lots of “content creators” seem to be making a good deal out of putting them up.

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JUST ICE

Close up shot of some ice melting for 30 minutes.

Stick it in a JMC Medical Unit kidney bowl to lend it some more “Dwarf-ness”

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They’d have to get a hell of a lot of product placement in if they were to make a US Red Dwarf these days. Every can of Leopard Lager would have to become a Starbucks cup, the vending machines would be even more obnoxious and constantly try and shove Pepsi and Charleston Chew’s down the crews throat and the Titan Taj Mahal would need a rebrand

“Fired from Earth? Deep into the heart of the Solar System? And you fancy a taco? Then why not drop in at the Titan Taco Bell!”

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